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Revision as of 14:04, 10 October 2012 editOhnoitsjamie (talk | contribs)Edit filter managers, Autopatrolled, Administrators261,154 edits if you continue to edit war against consensus, you will be blocked← Previous edit Revision as of 19:23, 10 October 2012 edit undo190.44.158.38 (talk) These descriptions were not given by schmidt, in any of his published works. consensus doesn't trump reality.Next edit →
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!Index !Index
!Animal !Animal
!Description given by Schmidt
|- |-
|1.0 |1.0
|] |]
|Light, ephemeral, almost fruity. A tiny spark has singed a single hair on your arm.
|- |-
|1.2 |1.2
|] |]
|Sharp, sudden, mildly alarming. Like walking across a ] and ].
|- |-
|1.8 |1.8
|] |]
|A rare, piercing, elevated sort of pain. Someone has fired a staple into your cheek.
|- |-
|2.0 |2.0
|] |]
|Rich, hearty, slightly crunchy. Similar to getting your hand mashed in a ].
|- |-
|2.0 |2.0
|] |]
|Hot and smoky, almost irreverent. Imagine ] extinguishing a ] on your ].
|- |-
|0 – 2.0 |0 – 2.0
|] and ] |] and ]
|Like a matchhead that flips off and burns on your skin.<ref name=dope/>
|- |-
|3.0 |3.0
|] |]
|Bold and unrelenting. Somebody is using a drill to excavate your ].
|- |-
|3.0 |3.0
|] |]
|Caustic and burning. Distinctly bitter aftertaste. Like spilling a beaker of ] on a ].
|- |-
|4.0 |4.0
|] |]
|Blinding, fierce, shockingly electric. A running hair drier has been dropped into your bubble bath.
|- |-
|4.0!+ |4.0!+
|] |]
|Pure, intense, brilliant pain. Like ] over flaming charcoal with a 3-inch rusty ] grinding into your heel.

|} |}


Revision as of 19:23, 10 October 2012

European paper wasp (Polistes dominula)

The Schmidt Sting Pain Index is a pain scale rating the relative pain caused by different Hymenopteran stings. It is mainly the work of Justin O. Schmidt, an entomologist at the Carl Hayden Bee Research Center in Arizona. Schmidt has published a number of papers on the subject and claims to have been stung by the majority of stinging Hymenoptera.

His original paper in 1984 was an attempt to systematize and compare the hemolytic properties of insect venoms. The index contained in the paper started from 0 for stings that are completely ineffective against humans, progressed through 2, a familiar pain such as a common bee or wasp sting and finished at 4 for the most painful stings. In the conclusion, some descriptions of the most painful examples were given, e.g.: "Paraponera clavata stings induced immediate, excruciating pain and numbness to pencil-point pressure, as well as trembling in the form of a totally uncontrollable urge to shake the affected part."

Subsequently, Schmidt has refined his scale, culminating in a paper published in 1990 which classifies the stings of 78 species and 41 genera of Hymenoptera. Schmidt described some of the experiences in vivid detail.

An entry in The Straight Dope reported that the following "implausibly exact numbers" do not appear in any of Schmidt’s published scientific papers but were "wheedled out of him" by Outside magazine for an article it published in 1996.

Schmidt Sting Pain Index
Index Animal
1.0 Sweat bee
1.2 Fire ant
1.8 Bullhorn acacia ant
2.0 Bald-faced hornet
2.0 Yellowjacket
0 – 2.0 Honey bee and European hornet
3.0 Red harvester ant
3.0 Paper wasp
4.0 Tarantula hawk
4.0!+ Bullet ant

See also

References

  1. Schmidt, J. O., Blum, M. S., and Overal, W. L. "Hemolytic activities of stinging insect venoms", Archives of Insect Biochemistry and Physiology, 1:155–160, 1984.
  2. Schmidt, Justin O. "Hymenoptera venoms: striving toward the ultimate defense against vertebrates" in D. L. Evans and J. O. Schmidt (Eds.), "Insect defenses: adaptive mechanisms and strategies of prey and predators" pp. 387–419, State University of New York Press, Albany, 1990.
  3. Cecil Adams (May 11, 2012) Did the creator of the Schmidt Sting Pain Index volunteer to get stung by everything on earth?, The Straight Dope
  4. Berenbaum, May. "A Stinging Commentary", American Entomologist, v. 49 n. 2, pp. 68-69
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